When I at first published my short description of emigration to the United States in 2001 on my website, this writing was already based on a lot of facts. But direct communication with today’s Teuthorns in America was at that time only at a beginning. Eight years later I may now state that my knowledge has increased significantly by reasons of modern communication. So, I may now try a resumen. Reading again my early lines I still find them tight, concise and without mistakes, thus no reason to replace them. In such sence the following reflection may be a continuation.
If this view may seem too general to an outside reader, please regard, it is mainly a description of living family. So respect for my family causes the way of writing. There are three episodes of immigration to the States.
The first chapter deals with doktor Johann Christian David Teuthorn’s (1795-1856) emigration from Frankenhausen to the U.S. in 1848. Due to poor sources there is still missing an adequate investigation. I hope to progress with his biography by a recently found paper which needs to be read in the archieves where it is stored [1] . He was accompanied by his son Ottomar (*1821). His daughter Pauline (1833-1884) followed in 1859. But her immigration probably took place independently from her father’s and brother’s because she went directly to goldrush town Shasta, CA.
"Harness maker Gunther C. Schroter soon made enough money in 'boomtown Shasta' to send for his German sweetheart, Pauline Teuthorn. They were married in Shasta in 1859 and raised nine children here. Schroter owned harness shops in both Shasta and Redding, operated the Quarter Oak Hotel, and was justice of the peace for eight years" [2]
My research concerning this matter brought interesting material which still has to be presented.
The second chapter of emigration deals with fortyeighter Friedrich (Fred) Philipp Berhard Teuthorn, originally from Leipzig, who saw himself forced to emigrate in 1851 as a result of the 1848 revolution. He started a printing and book business in Boston. I gave him a chapter in my booklet “Die Leipziger Teuthorns” published via Lulu.com in 2006 [3] . But I will have to revise the text because of new aspects. Furthermore Alexandra Haueisen recently found out, he founded the Bostoner Intelligenz Blatt [4] . His family seems to have ended definitetly when locomotive engineer Nathaniel Chester Teuthorn died 1972 in Quincey, MA.
The actors of the third but most important episode of immigration came from Kiel, today Capital of the German state Schleswig-Holstein. Five Teuthorn siblings, one after the other, were swept at the shores of Hoboken, NJ, by the very last wave of amplious immigration from Germany. They desembarked between 1890 and 1895. Otto 1890, Wiliam 1891, Louisa 1892, Petra 1892 and Emil 1895. Their sister Minna remaind at home to care for their parents. Emil continued voyage 4 years later for Windhoek, Namibia, at that time German South West Africa. He is my grandfather.
Louisa (1866-1942) married Willy Prellberg and they stayed at Hoboken. Her grandchildren Prellberg are my second cousins Evelyn and Alan. Evelyn’s son and her two granddaughters are connected with Puerto Rico. Alan has a daughter. It was a pleasure to me to show Al and his wife around the places of common family history during their visit in Germany 2007.
Otto (1868-1935) settled at Chicago and married Auguste Janssen. Unfortunately we do not know much about her history and family. But she certainly influanced her family importantly. Their young son Otto (Ottie) died early. Their first son Kurt (1900-1974) became a lawyer and played an important role in Chicago city politics. He married Helen Manson and with their three children we enter the living family now.The couple’s oldest son has 5 sons, 5 daughters, 23 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren so far. This branch of the family is strongly influanced by his wife, whose mother belonged to the Odawa people. In spite of the rich number of descendants there is only a small chance that the male line of this branch will continue. As daughters mostly abundon their name by marriage, their descendants are Carters, Harpers and others.Kurt’s twin children decided to change living from moisty lake climate to sunny California. The girl’s children were born into the Swarm family. The boy’s three children live with their families in the southern Bay Area of San Francisco. Among them is an IT-engineer and female pastor.I am highly fascinated by the variety of personalities and relations within those families. If the above description cannot reflect this enthusiasm sufficiently it is only due to privacy of living family.
Wilhelm / William (1870-1946) was married but without children.
Petra (1875-1943), following the same pattern as her sister Louisa, remained in Hoboken. She married John Hessel. They had two daughters, Anna and Fannie. But both of them – Fannie, allthough married – had no children.
As told above, Emil (1880-1959) stayed only 4 years in the States. Between 1899 and 1918 he settled and lived in Namibia. Later he came to Greifswald. He allways kept contact to his sisters and their families. After WWII Anna and Fannie Hessel as well as the Prellbergs supported him with parcels from the U.S. to Germany. - But contact to his brothers was broken early. He obviously had been deeply disappointed by both of them during his stay in Chicago.
Here ends my short resumen of how the Teuthorn family developed in the United States from the very beginning of immigration up to our times. That knowledge has grown constantly by e-mail communication from the start on, but its growth accellerated significantly at the last time by Facebook and the GENI.com . This online Family Tree allowed good cooperation and quickly brought astonishing results. Many family members contributed, but my special thanks go to Bill Teuthorn for his outstanding help.
Peter Teuthorn
Oct. 7, 2009
[1] Thüringisches Staatsarchiv Rudolstadt,
Provenienz: Justizamt Frankenhausen 5-13-6210 / 1389 1856 - 1860
“Die Regulierung des Nachlasses des Dr. Christian Teuthorn und der Frau
Dorothea Wilhelmine Hummel in Frankenhausen und die Vormundschaft über
den abwesenden Ottomar Teuthorn.
[2] Town of Shasta Inrerpretive Association with Al M. Rocca, Ph.D.: Old Shasta, in Images of America, 2005 Charlston u.a..
[3] Teuthorn, Peter: Die Leipziger Teuthorns, Gilching 2006.
[4] Haueisen Alexandra: Das Bostoner Intelligenz-Blatt: Kulturgeschichte der deutschen Immigration in Boston im 19. Jahrhundert, Zur Biograhie einer deutschen Kolonie. [Das Bostoner Intelligenz-Blatt: Cultural History of German Immigration to Boston in 19th Century, Aspects of a German Settlement’s Biography].
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